Car Safety

Car safety seats for children are available through the National Safety Council`s Child Passenger Safety Resource Center rent-a-seat program. The center, at the safety council`s Broward County headquarters, 2099 W. Prospect Road, Fort Lauderdale, makes the seats available to parents who cannot afford a child safety restraint. Motor vehicle accidents are the No. 1 cause of death to children under the age of 5, according to the safety council. About 70 percent of the children who are killed in automobile crashes every year could be saved if they are properly restrained in a child safety seat, the safety council said.

It's never too early to start teaching your children about traffic safety. Traffic accidents continue to be the leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 12 in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To help keep families safe, NHTSA has teamed up with the animated, preschool television show “Chuggington” to launch the national “Think Safe, Ride Safe, Be Safe!” campaign. The program offers free resources to help parents and kids learn important safety lessons from engaging characters and take a safety pledge online to earn a traffic safety badge.

Thanks to a state grant, the Broward Sheriff's Office will be given 351 car safety seats for distribution to the public. The agency's Pompano Beach district is one of four locations in Broward County that will benefit from the $14,000 Florida Department of Transportation grant. "It helps provide the service to the community so we don't have to send someone away with a seat that is not correct, recalled, broken or damaged," said Sheriff's Deputy Dave Schupp, who has been certified as a child passenger safety technician.

The Delray Beach Fire-Rescue Department was awarded almost $20,000 from the Florida Department of Transportation to purchase 557 car seats from Wal-Mart. The Child Passenger Safety Seat Program, started in 2000, is designed to make each child's ride a safe one and educate parents, said Lt. Hal Knabb, who runs the program. "[We cover] which way a child should face up to a certain age, make sure the seat is appropriate, have the child fit the seat and have the seat fit the car and try to mesh those things so the child's ride is safe," he said.

Injuries suffered in car accidents are the single largest killer of children in the country, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Proper use of child safety seats could prevent the majority of these deaths. However, about only half of the nation`s children are protected by car safety seats. Today is the beginning of National Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week. A public-service campaign, "Have a Heart, Click from the Start," is aimed at pursuading parents to use approved safety seats, install them properly and to buckle their children into them on every ride.

Owners learn about car safety for pets A seminar on animal vehicle safety in Delray Beach featured demonstrations of new car safety devices made specifically for pets. The event was aimed at owners of pampered pets. Two drown, many others rescued On Sunday, two people drowned off unprotected Lauderdale-by-the-Sea as rip currents and wind-whipped surf kept lifeguards busy elsewhere in Broward County. Local, page 3 Invisible ramp work frustrates drivers Repairs on a ramp linking Interstates 595 and 75 have drivers fuming.

DELRAY BEACH Safari Skies, a benefit for the Milagro Stars mentoring program, will be held Jan. 20 at the Sundy House,106 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. The event will include cocktails and a silent auction from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and dinner and dancing starting at 8 p.m. Milagro Stars provides one-on-one mentoring for more than 20 elementary and middle school children in collaboration with Big Brother/Big Sisters of Palm Beach County. The Milagro Center, at 101 SE Second Ave., Delray Beach, is a multicultural community facility.

A national problem is being tackled by the Broward Sheriff's Office: Making certain that kids are properly secured in child safety seats. A $130,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation is allowing the Sheriff's Office to begin an Occupant Protection Program, said Deputy Alan Bock, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. The program will operate from Sheriff's Office police units, which will hold volunteer car safety seat checks throughout the county. "We plan to begin in the next 30 to 60 days," Bock said.

LOCAL Campaign for car safety Arden Rosenfeld is lobbying to have Congress pass a car safety bill. His 2-year-old daughter was killed in 2005 in an accident west of Boca Raton. 1B WORLD Jet carrying 114 crashes A Kenya Airways Boeing 737 jet that took off during a midnight storm crashed near the town of Lolodorf, Cameroon, early Saturday with 114 on board. 25A BUSINESS & MONEY Money Makeover Retired couple Frank and Jeannette Kramer learned ways to protect their savings. Read the advice they were given.

Three-year-old Andres Sierra died five years ago, July 15. His father, Dr. Dennis Sierra, of Parkland, stopped by his office, got caught up in work and forgot his son was in the car. Three hours later he found him, dead. It happens more often than you may think. A child dies every 10 days from being left in a hot car. Five have already died in Florida this year. This is the worst month. "These incidents spike in July," said Jan Null, professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University.

Owners learn about car safety for pets A seminar on animal vehicle safety in Delray Beach featured demonstrations of new car safety devices made specifically for pets. The event was aimed at owners of pampered pets. Two drown, many others rescued On Sunday, two people drowned off unprotected Lauderdale-by-the-Sea as rip currents and wind-whipped surf kept lifeguards busy elsewhere in Broward County. Local, page 3 Invisible ramp work frustrates drivers Repairs on a ramp linking Interstates 595 and 75 have drivers fuming.

Dear Readers: There's nothing worse than your car breaking down on a frigid day. Here are a few winterizing hints to help get you home safe and sound: Make sure the car battery is free of corrosion on the terminals, and have loose or frayed cables replaced. Be sure that all belts and hoses are free of frays, cracks or bulges. Change out the windshield-wiper blades when needed. Check the tires for uneven wear, and be sure to inflate tires to the recommended "cold weather" tire pressure.

LOCAL Campaign for car safety Arden Rosenfeld is lobbying to have Congress pass a car safety bill. His 2-year-old daughter was killed in 2005 in an accident west of Boca Raton. 1B WORLD Jet carrying 114 crashes A Kenya Airways Boeing 737 jet that took off during a midnight storm crashed near the town of Lolodorf, Cameroon, early Saturday with 114 on board. 25A BUSINESS & MONEY Money Makeover Retired couple Frank and Jeannette Kramer learned ways to protect their savings. Read the advice they were given.

Kavita Varma-White and Kathleen Kernicky and The Washington Post and MCT, November 5, 2006

The Weekly Pick Organic baby wipes bottom out Editor's note: With so many children's products, books and toys coming across our desk, The Weekly Pick highlights those we like, dislike or find amusing. When Elsie's Original All Natural Baby Bum Wipes came across our desk, we really, really wanted to like them. Organic baby wipes, free of harsh chemicals and weird ingredients. What's not to like? And these smelled heavenly -- a mix of lavendar and Tea Tree essential oils. If that wasn't enough, apparently celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker swear by them.

A 20-minute car seat check could save your child's life. Parents might think theirs are installed correctly, but statistics show more than 96 percent of child safety seats and booster seats inspected in the state by nationally certified technicians are improperly installed, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. As car seat checks become more popular with parents, demand is up -- which means there's a greater need to train more certified car seat technicians. In Miramar, four officers are certified technicians, and the city plans to send firefighters for certification in the future.